Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/149

Rh These were the last I heard of in the county, and may even be regarded as the remnant of a return migration. At Cromer, Mr. Henry Cole reported three alive in the town-gardens, one on the watchhouse-green, the others lying or sitting upon the grass in Cromer Hall Park; while one was obtained on the golf-ground by Mr. Savin, who saw eight on the shore at Overstrand. Another was found alive in Northrepps village, near a pond. About the same time Mr. T.E. Gunn learnt from a friend that many were lying on the beach at Bacton, and on March 3rd twelve were sent to him from Sheringham (whence a Ringed Guillemot had been forwarded to Mr. Roberts), where other Little Auks were subsequently seen by Mr. Ernest Gunn, but not fresh. On March 1st Mr. Hamond met with four or five in Holkham bay, still swimming, and afterwards he found others cast up, the fate which probably overtook them all ultimately. When once thrown up they evidently were too weak, from want of food, to use their wings, and made no further attempt to regain the sea by flying. If they did fly, they were carried inland, where, beside the localities already mentioned, four others were picked up at Whitlingham, Stalham, Brinningham, and Scottow, and forwarded to Mr. Gunn, while Mr. Bird saw one at Honing. On this occasion the Auks were apparently accompanied by no Guillemots, but, if they had been, it is very possible by Brünnich's Guillemots, which unfortunately, in 1895, were not looked out for. These northern species move about together, and the Puffin of Spitzbergen, which could be recognized by its large size, is likely to bear them company. A few sanguine people tried to keep their Little Auks alive, but met with no success, as the birds always died in a few days. No doubt most of them were starving, though Mr. Gunn found fish-bones in the stomach of one. A few of the stronger birds, as I have already remarked, made their way inland, but the skeletons of these poor waifs were to be seen on the shore for fully eight months after the disaster; and a map of all the places where they were found would form an Auk-wreck chart. It will be remembered that in 1895 there was certainly some separation of the sexes, and apparently a preponderance of females; this time the only person who took note of sex was Mr. Robert Clarke, who dissected twelve, and found them nearly all females. We do not know what governs the separation of sexes in birds, but a great